Riverhead is seeking proposals from developers for a “housing-led” redevelopment of the town-owned parking lot across from the Riverhead train station, reviving a long-planned transit-oriented development effort after the town in March 2025 cut ties with the master developers tapped in 2022 to develop the site.
The Town Board is expected to ratify publication of the notice soliciting requests for proposals for the Railroad Avenue transit-oriented development (TOD) project at its meeting Tuesday. The notice was published July 2. Responses are due Aug. 24 by 3 p.m.
The approximately two-acre site is bounded by Osborn Avenue, Railroad Avenue, Cedar Avenue and Court Street. It is across the street from the Riverhead LIRR station to the north and the Suffolk County court complex to the south.
The RFP asks developers to submit proposals for a “housing-led, owner-oriented, mixed-use redevelopment” of the property. The town says its preferred outcome is ownership-oriented housing, including condominiums, workforce ownership, rent-to-own housing or other models that could support first-time homebuyers.
Rental housing is not ruled out. The RFP says multifamily rental programs will be considered if market conditions, financing structures or site constraints make ownership models infeasible, provided the proposal demonstrates community benefits consistent with the town’s housing goals.
The town envisions a residential project in the range of about 100 to 200 units, though the RFP says that range is guidance rather than a strict requirement. Developers may propose a different unit count if they can demonstrate the project is feasible, appropriately scaled, consistent with zoning and design goals, and able to address parking and public benefit requirements.
Parking is expected to be one of the central issues.
The site is currently a municipal parking lot, providing approximately 237 spaces committed to the Suffolk County court complex. Riverhead Town negotiated an agreement with the county many years ago for new county courtrooms at the Griffing Avenue complex that required the town to provide free parking for the court. The town acquired the properties in the square-block area to construct the parking lot.
Because the existing lot provides parking committed to the Suffolk County court complex, the RFP requires respondents to submit a detailed parking strategy addressing replacement parking, parking for the proposed development, shared or off-site parking assumptions, interim parking during construction, ownership and management, and funding responsibility.
Planning and Community Development Administrator Dawn Thomas said there is potential for collaboration between the developer selected through the new RFP and Georgica Green Ventures, which has a separate mixed-use proposal pending one block away at the county-owned Griffing Avenue parking lot. That project currently includes a 332-space structured parking garage.
Georgica Green was part of the team previously selected by the town for the Railroad Avenue redevelopment. In 2022, the Town Board designated Georgica Green Ventures and RXR as master developers for a two-site redevelopment concept that included the town-owned Railroad Avenue parking lot and the county-owned Griffing Avenue lot.
That plan contemplated a large mixed-use residential project on the Railroad Avenue lot and a separate mixed-use building with workforce housing and a public parking garage on Griffing Avenue. The parking garage was intended to help replace spaces that would be lost when the Railroad Avenue lot was redeveloped.
But the master development agreement was never fully executed and delivered, according to a town resolution adopted in March. The Town Board rescinded the prior master developer designation, giving the town what officials described as a clean slate for the Railroad Avenue property while allowing Georgica Green’s Griffing Avenue proposal to continue separately.
Thomas said the town is not requiring the developer of the municipal lot to partner with GGV on parking. Other parking approaches will be entertained, she said, with the idea of giving developers as much flexibility as possible.
The new RFP keeps the town’s long-standing goal of redeveloping the train station area, but separates the Railroad Avenue site from the earlier two-site master developer framework.
The town says it wants an “attractive, transit-oriented, pedestrian-friendly, and environmentally sustainable” project that supports new housing opportunities, complements downtown Riverhead, replaces required public parking and contributes to continued revitalization around the LIRR station.
The site is within the Downtown Center 3 zoning district and the Railroad Avenue Urban Renewal Area Overlay District, which the Town Board adopted in 2021 to encourage redevelopment in an area long identified in town planning documents as underutilized and blighted.
The overlay district allows greater density and height for larger properties. The RFP says the Railroad Avenue site exceeds 60,000 square feet, making it eligible for buildings up to 60 feet in height and a floor area ratio of 2.0, with the possibility of increasing FAR to 3.0 if community benefits are provided.
The town says it is also willing to work with the selected developer on additional refinements to the overlay district code if needed and consistent with the comprehensive plan, the Railroad Avenue Urban Renewal Plan and the town’s transit-oriented development study.
The RFP frames the project as part of a broader downtown redevelopment strategy that includes the Town Square project now under construction, Main Street pedestrian improvements, the proposed Griffing Avenue mixed-use development and parking garage, the Suffolk Theater expansion, public art and riverfront projects funded through the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative.
The town is also exploring housing-related grant opportunities, including through Long Island Housing Forward, Thomas said last week. The program is intended to help communities advance housing development.
Under the RFP, the town will consider only a fee-simple sale of the municipal property. Developers must submit the proposed purchase price and financial terms, along with a technical proposal, conceptual plans, a parking strategy, a 10-year pro forma and information about the development team’s experience and financial capacity.
The town will score proposals on a 100-point scale, with up to 40 points for the technical proposal, 40 points for respondent experience and capacity, and 20 points for the financial proposal. The scoring criteria place emphasis on housing goals, homeownership access, workforce housing, design quality, public realm improvements, parking replacement, financial feasibility and the developer’s track record with comparable projects.
A nonmandatory virtual pre-submission conference is scheduled for July 15 at 11 a.m. A nonmandatory site tour is scheduled for July 21 at 11 a.m. Questions are due July 27, and the town expects to post responses Aug. 3.
The RFP anticipates finalist selection in early September and public hearings in late September.
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